Relevant and even prescient commentary on news, politics and the economy.

Income, spending, layoffs, and new home sales all point to a continuing expansion in 2022

Income, spending, layoffs, and new home sales all point to a continuing expansion in 2022 We got our last batch of data before Christmas this morning. Almost all of the news was positive. I will be very brief.In the “coincident indicators” department, real personal income declined -0.2%, while real personal consumption expenditures increased less than […]

Vaccination reduces the probability of new variants

Professor Joel Eissenberg, Biochemistry & Molecular Biology While vaccination reduces the probability of new variants; sadly, there are selfish citizens among us who refuse to be vaccinated for COVID-19. Their belief in a decision only affecting themselves. This belief is false. Failing to get vaccinated increases the chances of infecting others and of hosting a […]

Voters in West Virginia . . .

Voters in West Virginia Support the Build Back Better Agenda, Senior Analyst, Ethan Winter, Data for Progress, August 27, 2021 From August 20, to August 27; Data for Progress organization “conducted a survey of 348 likely voters in West Virginia” to discover whether there was voter support for Biden’s Build Back Better bill. As you […]

Americans Shopping is a Runaway Train?

The conversation started with my investment person about two particulars which I was curious as to what he was expecting in returns. Those two were losing somewhat over the last 5 months. Excitedly, he started off on how the Fed was going to rein in inflation. I listened and answered. However you do it, raising […]

The bad faith of the Great Barrington Declaration

Jay Bhattacharya is one of the authors of the Great Barrington Declaration, which called for the immediate elimination of all lockdowns and “focused protection” of the vulnerable.  Yesterday Bhattacharya tweeted this: Putting the snark aside, this seems consistent with the Great Barrington Declaration; the GBD claimed that the costs of lockdowns are high and exceed […]

RIP Sharon L. O’Hare

If Barkley is writing about it, it warrants space on AB. RIP Sharon L. O’Hare, Econospeak, Barley Rosser I know, I know, my part of this blog is increasingly resembling an obituary column. But, heck, people I know who are conneted to econ keep dying, although this one was not as well known as others. […]

Record High in Producer Price Index and Other Market Indicators

Record 9.6% Annual Increase in November Producer Price Index; Record 6.9% YoY Increase in Core Prices; Record 7.1% YoY Increase for Final Demand Services, Record 14.9% Increase for Final Demand Goods, and a 46+ year Record for Prices of Intermediate Goods, RJS, MarketWatch 666 The seasonally adjusted Producer Price Index (PPI) for final demand rose 0.8% in […]